By Paul Souchek, Sun City resident and WWII Veteran
The Gun That Didn’t Fire Saved Our Lives
A soldier named Joe and I were told to go to an abandoned railroad station in Germany. Our orders were to throw a hand grenade into the RR station.
Soucheck is pictured here in ’43 or ’44 Germany with a company pet dog that another soldier got in German then snuck back to the USA in his barracks bag. (Photos provided)
I fired my gun with a full clip of ammunition in the window of the station. I then threw the hand grenade into the RR station. It exploded inside. Joe was instructed to do the same. When he threw the hand grenade, it hit a post and bounced back close to us and fell in a hole and did not injure us. Joe then took his Thompson machine gun, aimed at the window, ready to fire, and it didn’t work. We wanted my gun to fire into the station. I argued with him and told him I wouldn’t give him my gun. We then went back to the camp post and found there was another American company on the other side of the RR station, and they were ready to open fire on us, as they thought we were Germans. They heard us arguing and didn’t fire because they realized we were Americans. If Joe’s gun had gone off, I wouldn’t be here today.
The Mine That Didn’t Explode
I was in Italy, sitting with a 50 caliber machine gun on the front lines for two days. Mine sweepers came by, and I told them this part had already been cleared. The mine sweeper told me to move. I argued with him, but he insisted, so I moved. After sweeping the area, he found an Italian box mine right under the spot where I had been sitting for two days. He removed the mine that had either been buried too deep or been there a long time. IF the mine had exploded, I wouldn’t be here today.
Running Back to the Front Lines
The German army let our platoon through the German lines one evening.
Soucheck (bottom left) holds a monkey in Casablanca, Africa in ’43 or ’44.
When we woke up the next morning, there was gunfire all around. We were near a house and barn that was burning. We had to go through the house and through a small window to escape. The sergeant was heavy and we had difficulty pushing him through the window. One of the men who always complained about his feet hurting and couldn’t march in training was in the lead, running faster than all of us.
Buried Treasure
While in Naples in the fall near a rest area alongside an apple orchard, for some reason, I decided to pick some ripe apples and bury them in with some leaves by an apple tree near the end of the orchard. We stayed in the area for about a month after. There were no more apples available for picking, and when we were ready to leave, I found the buried apples and provided the other GIs with some good crisp apples.
Any Flour?
In the invasion of Southern France, I came across a Frenchman on the beach where I landed. He was a schoolteacher who spoke English and, looking out at the 3,000 ships, asked me which one of the ships had flour, so he could make some bread. He and his family were hungry and needed flour to make some bread. I told him he had better get off the beach or he wouldn’t be alive to eat any bread.
